The $19.99 freshman mechanics text.
About the Cover
The two gentlemen on the cover are Isaac Newton (1642-1746) and Josiah Willard Gibbs (1839-1903), the two greatest scientific geniuses of the Second Millennium.
Isaac Newton, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, created the differential calculus, Newtonian mechanics, and explained the motions of the planets, as revealed in his book Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica. He made major contributions to our understanding of light, color, and the motion of fluids, and made other substantial contributions to mathematics. His attempts to reform our understanding of classical alchemy were less successful; his studies of biblical chronology and theology he wisely left unpublished.
Josiah Willard Gibbs, Professor of Mathematical Physics at Yale University, was a quiet, private man, who left behind few records for erstwhile bibliographers. We may contrast with Newton, whose manuscript writings total perhaps ten million words. Gibbs took the laws of thermodynamics that governed steam engines, and wrote down in one vast two-part paper of 300 pages and 700 equations much of modern chemical thermodynamics. He then created modern vector calculus. A series of his papers on physical optics showed that those phenomena were explained by Maxwell’s equations, validating Maxwell’s theory of electrodynamics. Langley consulted with him on aircraft design. Finally, his 1902 volume Elementary Principles in Statistical Mechanics set down from first principles the science of statistical mechanics in its modern classical form.
This the Alpha Edition of Physics One. While considerable effort has been invested in eliminating typographic errors, incorrect historical observations, and the like, one of the reasons this book costs \$20 or so rather than \$300 is that I am not backed by a huge staff of proofreaders, editors, etc. Errors doubtless remain. If you find any, please advise at phillies@4liberty.net. I anticipate by and by releasing a Beta edition, hopefully with fewer errors.
